The Jewelry Secrets of Ryan Murphy’s Ratched
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Was it just me or did you also screenshot the gold tassel earrings Sharon Stone wears as Lenore Osgood in Ryan Murphy’s Ratched?
I could not immediately identify them the way I could some of Mrs. Osgood’s other incredible jewels in the Netflix series. Any character that lives at Dawnridge—the outrageously colorful, incredibly glamorous, and definitely wild estate Tony Duquette created high in Beverly Hills, and where Osgood lives in the show—would likely have one or two Duquette pieces in their collection.
And I spotted a few Duquette originals around Osgood's neck, but I wondered: how in the carefully choreographed colors of a Murphy extravaganza did Duquette’s malachite and lapis and coral fit in? Co-costume designers Lou Eyrich & Rebecca Guzzi helped me put the pieces together (and solved the golden tassel earring mystery).
Watching Ratched, one is struck by the color schemes of the costumes and the sets. Where did jewelry fit into this?
R.G.: Without making it an overt gesture, we did want to touch upon the fact that our show takes place in 1947 and we are in a postwar recovery period. In our research we noticed a simplicity in jewelry for the time. In general, we took a pretty austere and delicate approach to jewelry— the exceptions being the characters of Lenore and Ingrid who wore more cocktail and eccentric jewelry. We used classic pieces and materials like pearls and mother of pearl, gold and silver in earrings, brooches and also period-specific materials like bakelite brooches and earrings, micro0mosaic earrings, and more. When working at the hospital, the nurses all wore different pins indicating their status and wrist watches that we collaborated on with our prop master and his team.
Nurse Mildred Ratched does wear jewelry. How was that approached with her character?
RG: Although Mildred [played by Sarah Paulson] presents herself in many different ways, in reality doesn't come from much and is self-made. So we decided on a select amount of earrings and two different strands of pearls that she would wear and rewear throughout the season with various ensembles. There are a few times with skirt suits that she will wear a brooch in a coordinating accent color that matches her scarf and gloves.
L.E.: Besides the occasional brooch, we kept her jewelry small and unobtrusive.
Lenore Osgood is significantly bejeweled. Was that a choice from the beginning?
R.G.: Absolutely. Ryan from one of the first meetings wanted Lenore 'dripping in diamonds.' With Lenore we got to explore some of the larger statement pieces and luxe jewelry of the period to indicate her wealth and status.
L.E.: Ryan imagined that she collected many pieces from her travels abroad.
Her character lives at Dawnridge. How much of her jewelry is Tony Duquette and what are the most significant Duquette pieces she wears?
L.E.: We were thrilled to get to use an original Tony Duquette necklace, worn with her “traveling” outfit to meet Mildred Ratched.
What other jewels does Osborne wear (specifically the gold tassel earrings and black cocktail ring) and what was the concept behind the materials and look of the jewels for her character?
R.G.: The gold tassel earrings were generously lent to us by Neil Lane for use in the scene with Lenore and Mildred meeting for tea in the lobby of her San Francisco hotel. Lenore has a couple different black cocktail rings—some were vintage and some were Neil Lane as well. The concept behind Lenore's jewels was from the beginning 'more is still not enough.' We loved layering jewelry—necklaces, bracelets—and using large overscale brooches in unexpected ways like as a hair adornment. We themed the colors of her ensembles to different materials and colored stones, for example if one piece had pearls, we tried to use pearls in all of her jewelry accents for that ensemble. Even if she is just lounging around her home, Lenore is someone who takes great care in putting together her looks.
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L.E.: Sharon Stone loves to collaborate and “play” as she’s getting into her costumes. so once dressed, she took great interest in matching the jewels to the “mood” of the scene we were shooting.
Given the strong aesthetic of the show was it a challenge to match jewelry to it?
R.G.: Costume design can very much be a treasure hunt—getting inspired by, sourcing, and making the perfect picture and utilizing many resources and means to make it happen.
L.E.: We literally sourced vendors from across the world, to find authentic pieces.
R.G.: That said, it wasn't a challenge necessarily to find jewelry to match the aesthetic. The challenge was simply finding vintage jewelry for either purchase or in our costume houses. The further back you go in history, the fewer true vintage pieces remain.
L.E.: There were times we needed to repurpose some pieces, like turning earrings or belt buckles into shoe clips!
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